ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, July 23, 1996                 TAG: 9607230063
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-5  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON AND MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITERS 

DRUG SUSPECT RELEASED ON BOND EX-SALEM GYM TEACHER, NOTED GOLFER SURRENDERS TO POLICE AFTER INDICTMENT

A local golf standout and former Salem school teacher surrendered to police Friday evening after she was indicted earlier in the day on three drug-related felonies.

Penny Stallins, 45, was indicted by a Salem grand jury on charges of possession of cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of amphetamine.

Stallins was arrested and released on bond, Salem Deputy Chief Jeff Dudley said. The amount of bond could not be confirmed Monday.

Stallins' trouble with the law began this summer when a joint investigative team from the Botetourt County Sheriff's Office and the state police charged her with buying cocaine.

A cocaine dealer already arrested by Botetourt Detective Kenny Parker and State Police Investigator Ben Caldwell agreed to lead them to other dealers, according to Botetourt Sheriff Reed Kelly. Parker and Caldwell said they witnessed a sale in which a woman paid $1,200 for one ounce of cocaine and was advanced a second ounce.

Parker and Caldwell arrested Stallins and confiscated her car and about $1,600 in cash, Kelly said. That led Salem police to search her North Market Street home June 3. Stallins consented to the search.

Kelly said charges against Stallins in Botetourt County will likely come before a grand jury next month.

Until about a year ago, Stallins was prominent in the local women's golf scene. In 1987, she became the first golfer to win the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame women's championship three times straight.

But in the early 1990s, Stallins was slowed by arthritis in her left shoulder and back, according to news reports.

In November 1995, Stallins was granted disability retirement from her job as a physical education and health teacher at Andrew Lewis Middle School. She had taught the same subjects at Salem High School from 1983-90 before being transferred to Andrew Lewis.

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